The couple, which had been avid racing fans for more than three decades and attended nearly every GNCC race since the series began 18 years ago, took off Friday from Akron Fulton International Airport bound for Spartanburg, S.C., Fox Carolina and Fox 8 Cleveland reported. The plane that Lazarus was piloting then went down in Kanawha County in West Virginia around 5 p.m. after Lazarus had been attempting to detour around bad weather. The crash scene was discovered at 6:40 p.m. by helicopter. Tim Cotter of Amsoil GNCC reported Brandon Sommers left South Carolina for West Virginia after learning of the crash.

GNCC left this message on its website:

Racer Productions is saddened to report that GT Thunder’s Lazarus Sommers and his wife Mary Ann were involved in a fatal plane crash Friday evening. Laz and Mary Ann were en route from Akron, Ohio to Spartanburg, S.C. for this weekend’s Big Buck GNCC.

The Sommers family has been a longtime supporter of the AMSOIL AMA Grand National Cross Country Series through their Ohio-based company GT Thunder, as well as their son Brandon, who has had a very accomplished career in GNCC Racing.

Laz and Mary Ann will be deeply missed by the entire GNCC and ATV racing family. At this time of acute sadness, Racer Productions and the entire GNCC Racing family extend their heartfelt condolences to Brandon, his wife Eryca and the entire Sommers family.